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Too long. Too long. Again. I've heard some complaints about neglecting my Travel Blog, people who don't have FaceBook accounts (you know who you are, all three people out there) not knowing what's going on with me or if I'm alive…
So – before the Jordan II blog entry, let me give you a short update. I'm in Israel. I have a job. I am all back into the "I work 24/7" thing. As if I didn't know better… at the moment I live at the Carmel Market (a Hugh food and everything fake you can think of in central Tel Aviv). It deservers its own blog and I assure you - - - - it'll get one)
I went to Jordan. It's my second trip to Jordan in 4 years. The last one was a touristic one covering north to south, western side – you're right, there isn't a blog entry about this trip. Be patient…
This time the visit to Jordan wasn't a trip. It was WORK!! The NGO I work for is supported by a European organization supporting several NGO's working with children and minors in conflict areas as Israel, Palestine and other Middle East countries.
For us
to have a regional conference – Jordan is almost the only place possible…
So - - -off we go. It's 9 am in Tel Aviv, 5 women, 2 religions, 3 nationalities are heading to the border. Just on schedule. Shocking. On time. So we stopped for a coffee…. You don't wanna be too early to the party As we stop one of us had realized that her passport is safely resting on her desk at home (I think it's everyone's nightmare..) so she had to head back to Tel Aviv, grab the passport and make her way to Jordan. A trip to the neighbors took her 9 hours. For us, losing a group member on the first hour wasn't a good sign. On the other hand, another group, crossing from another border lost someone's bag – it was taken by another tourist by accident, later we found out he made his way to china, realizing at the AMMAN airport the bag wasn't his..
We've crossed the border and the hotel's driver picks us up and we head south. I, as usual, pull out my camera, taking photos of daily life – market, food, shops, people, not realizing how important
it's gonna be for me in 2 hours… a focal point to real Jordan
The Hotel is beautiful and amazing. The conference was interesting, I have a lot to say about those but I won't. It's not the right place to do so.
The conference got me thinking about differences, dissonance, and determination.
The differences (or almost lack of them) between us people living in the middle east, most of us got to talk, at least a bit, get to know eachother. We were 2 Jewish (by birth, as I always say) Israeli women in a group of various nationalities, backgrounds, countries of origin - - - -
people the majority was Arab speaking. All of us are good people working for civil society organizations, caring for children and minors in conflict areas (or escaping from them, in our case) with some we had language barriers, with some we had personalities barriers with some we hit on great, knowing it's the Middle East politics and realities keeping us apart. Some of us felt sadness over it. Some of us couldn't care less….
It got me thinking, as I said –I've learned so much about the "other side", "them"… it got
me thinking of the dissonance between the amazing beautiful welcoming hotel and the reality outside, the situation of the children we work with, real life. But this is what hotels are supposed to do. Give you some rest, some piece of mind. For me it didn't. My brain wouldn't stop working.
The most impressing thing for me is the determination of my colleagues to making a better world, to children but not only, against all reality and sadness they are facing.
Why am I losing my travel skills? We got hungry on the way, asking the driver to stop in a village, hoping for some local Jordanian food on the road. Being the important guests we are, he refused to stop before we got to the touristic hamburger-with-view place on the dead sea. I was so shocked and disappointed from being a "captured tourist", letting others decide for me and take care of me… To "real me" it would have never happen!!
I think that the photos will speak for me, in a much better way…
Only two requests I have for you reading this blog:
1. If you ever get to the dead sea amazing hotels as Mövenpick,
Marriott or holiday inn, don't think you've visited Jordan. You haven't.
2. If you ever get to the Mövenpick, don't miss the belly dancer. She does things that in Sci-Fi movies they didn't manage to create. I'm sure she's un human. and, as a new good friend taught me – she's from the Golf. Not the Middle East.
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